YIJ Lecture Series

Dr. Jun Sung Hong (Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, School of Social Work)- Associate Director for the Laboratory for the Study of Youth Inequality Justice- delivered a lecture titled "Understanding Homophobic Bullying Victimization: A Global Phenomenon" on February 21, 2019 at Virginia Tech. As the first, inaugural lecture series by YIJ, Dr. Hong addressed homophobic bullying, which has detrimental consequences for victimized youth globally. Dr. Hong further highlighted important policy recommendation to address homophobic bullying within and outside the education system.

Dr. Hong, utilizing ecological systems framework, emphasized the importance to address homophobic bullying as a global phenomenon, which warrants further investigation across various academic disciplines, such as criminology, women and gender studies, education, and sociology. Calling attention to the everyday occurrence of homophobic bullying in schools, Dr. Hong demonstrated how victims of homophobic bullying are more at risk for victimization outside the education system.

Special thanks to the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech for sponsoring the inaugural YIJ lecture series- first of many to come!